Apparently Spider-Man 2 Wanted Matt Damon For Its Lead Villain Role

After debuting in 2016's Captain America: America Civil War, Tom Holland's Peter Parker unsurprisingly went on to star in his own movie a year later, and Spider-Man: Homecoming performed excellently both critically and commercially. Spidey's next two MCU appearances are in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, but once those cosmically-charged events are over, he'll point the spotlight back on himself in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2. While Marvel remains tight-lipped about what's in store for Spider-Man: Homecoming 2, there's been no shortage of reports and rumors concerning the sequel, and the latest update is that apparently Matt Damon was being eyed to play the lead villain. According to The Tracking Board editor-in-chief Jeff Sneider:

The rumor that was sort of plaguing Hollywood for the last couple weeks was that Matt Damon was going to be the villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2. I'm told he passed...

Jeff Sneider revealed this Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 tidbit during today's episode of Meet the Movie Press, and it sounds like Matt Damon passing on this role happened relatively recently. It's unclear which of Spider-Man's villains Damon was being lined up for, but needless to say that he had been part of the cast, this move would have boasted a major A-list talent. Of course, Damon has already left a small mark on the MCU through Thor: Ragnarok, where he played an actor portraying Loki in an Asgardian stage production chronicling the events of Thor: The Dark World, albeit with Loki (disguised as Odin) twisting the narrative to paint him in a positive light.

Aside from behind-the-scenes updates like Jon Watts likely returning to the director's chair, nothing has been officially revealed about Spider-Man: Homecoming 2. Unofficially, the sequel will reportedly feature a "femme fatale" as an important character, but that still doesn't shed light on the villain Matt Damon was being looked at to play. Even ignoring Spider-Man baddies we've already seen on the big screen, like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, there are plenty of enemies from the Wall-Crawler's rogues gallery who could fit as candidates, from Kraven the Hunter to Mysterio to Chameleon. Regardless, whoever this baddie is, Damon won't be the one playing him, but with production on Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 beginning later this year, hopefully we'll find out who is hired for the role in the coming months or even weeks.

Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 swings into theaters on July 5, 2019, but you only have to wait a few more weeks to see Peter Parker back in action, because Avengers: Infinity War comes out on April 27. As for Matt Damon, he can be seen later this year reprising Linus Caldwell in Ocean's 8, which arrives on June 8. If you're interested to learn what other movies are on the way this year, scan through our 2018 release schedule.